Yeah, About That
by plainmnmemy
Summary: AU. Set after Iron Man 2, Pepper's holiday plans get cancelled so she decides to surprise her newly acquired-something-Tony Stark and spend the holidays with him. However, when she gets there, she comes face to face with a stranger who apparently knows Tony pretty well. Who is this new girl? Rated M due to adult themes pt. 1 in my Yeah, I Get That A Lot series ( I own nothing )
1. A Holly Jolly Christmas (Or Not)

_December 2010_

_Malibu, California_

"Tony?"

**Have a holly jolly Christmas **  
><strong>It's the best time of the year<br>****I don't know if there'll be snow  
><strong>**But have a cup of cheer**

If there was one thing Pepper Potts did not like, it was last minute cancellations. Specifically cancelled flights, such as the one she should have been on an hour ago. December weather in Malibu was nothing to complain about, but apparently the rest of the nation wasn't as lucky. Her flight home to Connecticut was cancelled due to snowy conditions so with a sigh and one apologetic phone call to her family, she made her way to her genius, billionaire, playboy newly acquired, boyfriends cliff side home.

"Tony, my flight got cancelled!"

Silence.

Seriously? She was just here last night before she went home to pack, what trouble could he have already ran off to cause? The Expo was over, Hammer was in jail, and Vanko was…well…not around anymore. After hauling the last bit of her Louis Vuitton luggage through the door and closing it behind her an idea came to her.

**Have a holly jolly Christmas **  
><strong>And when you walk down the street <strong>  
><strong>Say hello to friends you know <strong>  
><strong>And everyone you meet<strong>

"J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

No answer. So much for that idea.

Okay, what's going on, the last time he was offline was-

Of course her mind instantly went to the worst possible scenario. When you start dating a super hero, as she's come to find out these past few months, you always have these terrible, horrific, morbid situations playing through your head and when you see that they are okay, you feel completely ridiculous.

The sounds of footsteps vibrated off the walls of the living room around her, and with a sigh of relief let a smile creep onto her lips.

**Oh ho the mistletoe **  
><strong>Hung where you can see<strong>

"Tony, hey my flight got canc-"

**Somebody waits for you**

Uhh, you're not Tony

**Kiss him once for me**

She must have said her thoughts aloud because now the "not Tony" was staring right back at her with a look of a deer in headlights.

She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as her mind began to catch up. She took in the figure in front of her with wide eyes and a racing heart. The tall girl in front of her was all legs with an olive skin that resembled something of a sunglow tan. She could make out brown eyes through the sliver of space her bangs allowed as the rest of her long wavy hair framed her face that was currently tipped upwards in mid swig of the bottle of beer she was holding. The girl lowered the bottle away from her face and held it close to her chest.

Hey, wait a minute

The bottles new residence brought Pepper's attention to the average built girl's attire—or lack thereof. She was clad in only in a yellow Jimmy Buffett tshirt that came down to her thigh where she could make out a pair of cotton shorts underneath. Her bright pink socks were the last thing Pepper took in before she became aware of the tears on her face and just how long she had been staring as the girl was now racing back down the stairs towards the lab.

Walk away, walk away, walk away, you knew he would do this eventually, walk away, walk away

"Stupid, stupid, stupid Pepper—as if he would give that up"

She continued muttering to herself as she tried to gather her luggage all at once. Her mind instantly went back over the title of said billionaire and added the word playboy back into it, along with some other choice words.

"Pepper! Wait!"

Ha! Yeah, right.

His deep voice bounced off the narrow walls around the staircase leading up from the lab. As if she would wait to hear where he picked this girl up at.

"Pepper please, stop!"

Fingers wrapped around her elbow and without hesitation she immediately drew her arm back to her.

She now stood face to face with said playboy whose dark brown eyes reflected something along the lines of concern. His ordinary white, although she was certain gained its stains from the garage, tank top and grey sweatpants replaced Pepper's despair with red hot anger. Who cares if it was a normal, everyday outfit, that wasn't the issue right now.

"Pepper," he repeated slowly almost out of breath from his dash up the stairs, "I swear to you, it's not what you think."

The girl had made her way back upstairs and now stood some distance behind Tony, with a similar look on her face. What was that? Shame? Scared? Remorse?

"Tony, it's fine—I mean, it's not fine—but I guess in the back of my head I always knew this would happen and I mean I hoped it wouldn't but—"

She was rambling. Trying to hold on to any logical thought about the situation and how she could leave with her head held high.

Is it bad when you start rambling and your own brain tunes you out?

"Pepper!"

Her attention snapped back to his face and it was then she realized he had both hands holding her shoulders to keep her in place. His eyes held hers in a quiet stare. She wondered about the possibility of her being wrong, and quickly shoved that feeling aside. She deserves to be angry. He was with another girl while she was supposed to be gone! Right?

There's those morbid situations again.

She gathered herself calmly and brought the bite of a tone she saves for her company dealings, "then what is it? Because it looks like a girl who is hardly wearing any clothes, hanging out down stairs in the lab with you!"

Tony drew in a steady breath as he slowly released one of Peppers shoulders to slightly move to the side and glance back at the girl who was slowly moving towards her.

**Have a holly jolly Christmas **  
><strong>And in case you didn't hear<strong>

"Pepper, he's telling the truth."

"Excuse me – woah – how do you know my name?"

Her brain was on overload. In all the times she's had to take out Tony's "trash", the only one to ever acknowledge her name was Christine Everhart, and even then she couldn't recall if she used her nickname. A nickname given to her by Tony himself.

"Pepper…come on, let's all go sit down and-"  
>"No! I'm going back to my car. I am not dealing with this."<p>

She was losing control and was determined to not fall apart in front of them. Virginia Potts would never give anyone that satisfaction. She began to turn around as she tried to shrug off the hand that still held her arm when she heard someone behind her let out a breath of air.

"Just go ahead and tell her Tony, it's fine."

Pepper glanced back to observe the exchange between the two when the girl wrapped her arms around herself as if she was cold.

"Are you sure? It won't cause any-"

The girl nodded and Tony turned back to Pepper with a tint of a smile in the corner of his mouth as he released a small breathless laugh.

"Pepper"

**Oh by golly have a holly jolly **  
><strong>Christmas this year<strong>

He looked back once more as his hand rose and fell as a gesture to the girl who was now apparently sharing the same inside joke as Tony. Peppers brow furrowed, she was not amused and he better hurry up because she's got things to do, clothes to unpack, things to break and—

"She's my sister."

**Santa Claus is coming to town**


	2. I Go Back to December All the Time

_December 18, 1991_

A black sedan with dark tinted windows pulled into the elementary school's drop off lane around two in the afternoon. The parking lot was seemingly vacant aside from the teachers and faculty cars filling the spots around the buildings. Thankful to beat the rush of parents picking their children up, he stepped out into the cold December rain.

_Why do I get stuck in situations like this?_

He saw a young woman peeking out from the entrance doors and after spotting him quickly rushed behind the door and reappeared with a bright yellow umbrella. She walked briskly through the puddles in his direction as he too made his way to her under the safety of his much larger black umbrella.

"Are you Nick? The phone call this morning only mentioned the name Nick."

She finished the sentence quietly and he noticed her sizing him up. He couldn't blame her. At 6'1" he towered over the petite woman and his muscular structure raised more questions than he cared to think about of why he'd be at an elementary school. He pulled the hand not holding the umbrella out of his pocket and extended it towards the woman as a peace offering to her silent questions.

"Yeah, you'll have to forgive them; no one was prepared for this. Nick Fury."

Instead of shaking her hand she wrapped her hand over his larger fingers and leaned forward.

"No one should be prepared for losing loved ones."

He silently nodded in agreement as she beckoned him inside out of the cold as he waited for them to fetch the reason for his visit.

"Does she know?"

He silently hoped some teacher had broken the news to her. That way she would forever blame that teacher, and he'd be off the hook. He wouldn't have to leave this terrible memory of him in her young mind.

"No. We took her out of class as soon as you called though, in case any of the children might have been told by their parents this morning. She's been in the art room all morning working on her projects. "

He nodded as the woman once again walked out into the hallway. She was amazingly talented when it came to art. She was, what—eight years old and she had already had her art in display cases at the local school art shows with awards placed by each one of them. He suddenly felt a surge of pride fill him.

She wasn't his daughter. He was her trainer, her caretaker, her…glorified babysitter.

He reprimanded himself silently at that last part.

_This is no time to be ungrateful_.

Who was he kidding? That little girl lit up his life more than he could ever imagine possible after the wars and battles he's seen and been part of.

It always seems to be while thinking of this little girl that he thinks of how thankful he is to that old bastard Chester.

Joining the army at the age of eighteen was the best decision Nick believes he ever made. There he met Col. Chester Phillips. A seventy-one year old who's best weapon was the amount of insults he could throw into one sentence to get you to be better. Sure, people thought it was rough and blamed his grumpiness on his old age. Nick came to love the man as a father, and it is because of this relationship that he was introduced to Howard Stark and Margaret Carter.

Their meeting was one he had not been expecting. He was a soldier, a war time expert. He got things done himself while others simply sat and planned. When he was summoned in 1974 at the age of twenty to meet with Phillips, he instead was met with a room containing Stark and Carter. They informed him of Phillips untimely death, and even as a streak of pain tore through his heart, Nick kept his stoic face. They told him of all of Phillips intentions as carefully detailed in his will, and of these intentions, Nicks name appeared.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division

_What a title_..

Nick scoffed to himself and quickly regained composure when the secretary stopped typing to look up at him.

Carter and Stark then had started explaining to him the true meaning of their organization that had been around since shortly after WWII. Phillips' will expressed his want of Nick to be in the organization as well, and urged Stark and Carter to seek him out.

It had taken him awhile to understand everything, but as weeks turned to months, and months turned to years, he found meaning in the symbol and friendship in the members.

Howard had chosen Fury to be his one on one, semi-body guard; Starks phrase not his. Howard, who had married a young—much younger- beautiful Italian woman named Maria, already had a two year old son named Anthony when Nick joined the army and in 1983 when they had a daughter, a sixty-three year old Howard made Nick promise to keep her safe no matter what.

Stark had an uncanny way of planning for everything that a regular person would never have even dreamed of. He knew his age difference to his wife and even his children, and planned their futures carefully. He took on a partner, Obadiah Stane, to help with the business, as well as help teach Tony the business when the time arose for the next Stark to take the reins of the company. Anthony, who went by Tony, was sent off to MIT at the age of fifteen and returned two years later with a degree in physics and electrical engineering.

_Too smart for his own good_

Nick shook his head at the many memories he had acquired over the years of having to go and find the young Stark after one of his nights of partying.

He was still trying to digest the architect of the main design of Howard's great plan.

He wondered why he never bothered to ask Stark why he asked him to start training his daughter in the martial arts at the age of 5. Although it seemed like one giant gym class session to her, Howard was adamant that she grow up and join S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony's plan was to follow in his footsteps and run Stark Enterprises, with Stane as his teacher.

_A kid for both lives of Howard Stark_

He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of a young girl's voice.

"Nicky?"

He glanced down at the young girl in her bright purple rain coat and matching boots. Her long straight brown hair framed her face and her straight cut across bangs made her wide chocolate eyes stand out and shine like the stars.

"Hey trouble, you ready to roll?"

A huge smile spread along the girls face as she nodded excitedly. He stood slowly, nodded his goodbyes to the young teacher and reached out for the girl's hand. He guided her slowly under the umbrella as she jumped through the puddles while still holding his hand.

After getting her inside the car and latched into her child seat in the back he made his way around the front and into the driver's seat. A loud clap of thunder sent a shiver down his spine as he felt his stomach drop.

"Where we goin'?"

She was practically bouncing in her seat as she always did when she got excited. With a deep breath to calm his nerves he turned the car on and pulled out of the parking lot.

Completely ignoring her question he glanced up into the rearview mirror.

"Want to get some ice cream?"

_Anything, anything to make her happy…one last time…_

"Nicky! It's December! It's too cold for ice cream! Silly."

Her wide smile was directed out the window as they passed building upon building in the city, finally making their way into the residential neighborhood the Starks had purchased a house in.

After the thirty minutes of painful silence, he pulled the car into the driveway behind the multitude of other cars, all haphazardly parked in the large driveway.

"Why are there so many people?"

There was confusion laced in the young girls tone with a hint of suspicion. She was eight years old sure, but she wasn't dumb. She was a Stark after all.

Once again ignoring her question, he turned the car off and sat back in his seat.

"Hey munchkin, before we go in there-"

"Tony!"

His head snapped in the direction of her cries as she tried to no avail to get out of her seat to see her brother. He'd been off at other schools and traveling a lot at the age of twenty-one and she hadn't got to really see him in so long.

With a sigh Nick got out of the car and not even bothering with an umbrella, went to her side of the car and unfastened her. She quickly bolted to Tony, who scooped her up into a big hug.

_3, 2, 1…_

"Tony, why are you crying? I thought big boys don't cry?"

The smugness in her voice made him smirk until he watched the exchange between the siblings.

Her eyes widened as she glanced over Tony's shoulders and stared right at Nick, effectively breaking his heart.

Tony lifted his sister up and locked her legs around his waist as he took her inside. Nick respected the boy for actually being there for his sister and not showing up wasted.

Nick looked up to the sky as the rain continued to soak him to the bone.

_Howard…what do I do now?_

_R.I.P. Howard and Maria Stark_

_December 17, 1991_


	3. Hey, Brother

_Hey brother, there's an endless road to re-discover. _  
><em>Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.<em>

"Your sister."

Pepper's tone did nothing for Tony's nerves. Angry Pepper was a scary Pepper.

"Um…yeah," glancing back over his shoulder towards his sister, "I mean I was thirteen by the time she was born, and they were getting ready to send me off to school so I guess they wanted something to entertain them while I was gone."

His sister scoffed and rolled her eyes at the comment.

"Or they just wanted to make sure they did it right since they messed up the first time?"

He laughed the comment off and turned his attention back to Pepper. If his humor didn't work he had nothing up his sleeve.

Pepper continued to stare back and forth between the two.

"We look nothing alike I know, I'm much better looking than her, she's probs adopted."

Taking a swig of the beer she was still holding, a much more relaxed version of the girl spun around on her heel and headed towards the couches.

"I wish I was, trust me, who'd want to be in your gene pool?"

He smiled. extremely grateful for the help. They always used to crack people up as children because their humor was similar, and he hoped it worked now.

_Stark humor times two!_

Tony slid his hand down Pepper's arm and grabbed a hold of her hand and with a gentle squeeze brought her attention back to him once more.

"Pepper?"

She blinked a couple times, all traces of tears seemingly gone from her face.

"That's not possible"

_Here we go…_

He his eyes tightly as he prepared himself for the story he knew she wouldn't believe. He might as well take her bags to the car right now. He opened his eyes once more to find Pepper's mouth opening and closing as if trying to form the correct words.

"Your medical records, your personal files…I have them all…memorized them all…" she trailed off quietly looking back to Tony, "I know your social security number Tony! I've handled everything in your life since…I don't know when! How could I not know you had a sister?"

He was more confused now than ever. Was she mad that he didn't tell her, or that she had no idea after all her extensive research and, well yeah, handling his everyday life for ten years?

"Well, you see Pep-"

He really had no idea how to even explain this. She knew of S.H.I.E.L.D., at least she knew of Agent Coulson. What they did though? Their work? Did she know that?

"My records were taken out of any public database when I turned 12. "

He turned to see his sister prop her feet up on the coffee table in front of her and lean back against the couch.

"The only people who really know about me anymore are the old shareholders that show up at the galas and Rhodey."

_Rhodey!_

Tony whipped his head in the direction of the staircase then back to his sister where he met her wide eyes as the same realization hit her. What was that about sibling connections?

"Oh shit, Rhodes!"

He released Pepper's hand and almost fell down the stairs as he tried to descend them as quickly as possible. The story would have to wait.

Tony punched in his number as quickly as he could and made his way to the couch set up in his garage.

"Hey buddy! Whatcha doin'?"

His best friend of twenty-three years looked up through hazy eyes.

"Yoooo buddy!"

_Oh great. Typical Rhodes can't hold his alcohol._

"Yeah, hey listen, think you can come upstairs? Got a bit of a situation."

Tony eventually coerced his best friend to stand up and after shoving a soda can in his hands began the long journey up the stairs. He made his way over to the couch where his sister was previously located. With her beer bottle sitting on the coffee table he quickly did a room check.

_Let's see, there's her beer, that's where she was sitting, Pepper's luggage, Pepper was-_

Bells went off in his head. Thoughts of the two of them fighting it out popped into his brain, but were quickly dismissed. Besides it's anyone's guess who the winner would be; one highly trained member of an organization and one fiery red head that could strike fear in the heart of the president if she tried hard enough.

He heard voices floating from the kitchen and after making sure his friend was in no danger of falling off the couch, made his way over to the wall next to the archway.

"This is not how I wanted to meet you."

His sister's admission caught him off guard. He knew she had always wanted to meet Pepper, especially after his interest in her grew. She would get frustrated when the restrictions of her job came into play, but none the less always promised she'd find a way to meet the woman who was '_bold and strong enough to tame Tony_ '.

He rolled his eyes at the memory and made his presence known to both women. He walked into the room to find his sister pouring Pepper some tea while the red head sat at the island bar in silence. Tony went over to his girlfriend, hoping she still was claiming the title, and put his hands on her shoulders once more giving them a gentle squeeze.

"Still want to kill me?"

He felt her shoulders rise with a quick snort.

"Tony, you know for a fact that I feel like killing you almost every day of the week."

Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he released her shoulders with a low chuckle and walked around the bar to his sister's side and pulled her into a side hug with a goofy side grin on his face.

"True, which means I always have two women ready to chop my balls off if I ever get out of line!"

He looked down at his sister as she drank her cup of tea, apparently finished drinking for the night, and he let out a laugh as she nodded her head in agreement.

Silence flooded the house once more until Tony couldn't stand it.

"How about this!"

His exclamation caught both women off guard but none the less held their attention. He could literally feel the wheels in his head turning as he quickly came up with a shot gun plan to make the situation better.

"How about, we do this all over," gesturing between the two women, "this time I'll introduce you properly?"

Pepper placed her cup down on the island counter and nodded her head in agreement and let a small smile shine through.

"Great! Okay… Virginia 'Pepper' Potts," he rounded the bar in a theatrical manner and grabbed her hand.  
>"I'd like you to meet my sister-"<p>

"Sista from another mista!"

_You gotta be kidding me._

Figures his perfect solution would forget about the drunken soldier…again. Rhodey's intrusion came at the delight of both women as he made his way to Tony's sister, who was letting out breaths of laughs as he made his way towards her with much difficulty. Rhodey finally made his way across the kitchen to the brunette's side and threw his arm around her shoulders.

He lifted his other arm up, and brought his flat palm down onto the counter.

"Have you ne-never met Tone's sista?"

His slurred speech was always a favorite of Tony's but right now all he could do was stare at his best friend as the situation made a complete 180 degree turn, not that he was complaining. Neither girl was focused on the issue at hand, and Pepper was actually smiling again. So far it was a win.

His sister laughed as she slung her arm not holding her tea around Rhodey's waste to help him keep steady.

"No Rhodes, that's what we were trying to do 'til you barged in!"

Rhodey has been around since Tony was around fifteen years old, and he sometimes forgets how close the three of them are. Sometimes he thought the Rhodey had more of a sibling connection with her than he did. Those thoughts would fly out the window within minutes though when the three of them usually all got in trouble, with Rhodey receiving punishment equal to that of the Stark's.

_Yeah, we pretty much are all the same._

"Welllllll, that's not cool! Pepp's this is-"

"Emily," the arm holding the soldier up was now extended towards Pepper, her manicured nails reaching out as she waited, "Emily Stark."

He watched as Pepper let out a small chuckle and reach forward to accept the gesture. A sigh of relief left him. He knew the story of his sisters records was still hanging in the air, and knew better than to think Pepper had forgotten about it. He still didn't know how he was going to explain it. Maybe he should call that agent guy?

His thoughts were interrupted as a dull thud sounded through the kitchen.

Their attention switched to a passed out Rhodey on the floor next to them. Tony shook his head at the sight.

_Yeap. Figures._

_It's not a family Christmas 'til someone passes out on the kitchen floor._


	4. Baby, Can You Handle This?

_I don't think they can handle this!_

_Los Angeles, July 2001_

"Come on Platypus," Tony whipped around to face him as he tried to keep the not so sober girl with them up straight, "this girl needs more vodka!"

Rhodey's face scrunched up as he tried to straighten out his own vision to keep up with the two Stark's in front of him. It was Emily's eighteenth birthday and despite the fact that he and Tony had just reached their thirty's- as if that ever stopped Tony from having a drink in his hand- they had to celebrate it the right way.

They'd already been to one club in downtown Hollywood and were currently making their way down the street to the next one. Apparently, dancing on the bar was unacceptable and after Tony made an argument as to why it was, the three were asked to leave.

They rounded the corner to the two story bar with glass panels along the streets. The club was packed.

"Oh yeah, this is the spot."

Rhodey snorted at Tony's comment.

_Anywhere with a bar is "the spot"_

They made their way to the entrance where they were asked for their I.D.'s.

The bouncer looked at Rhodey's first, and then gestured to Tony's. Upon reading the name on the license, his head snapped up eyes wide.

Rhodey rolled his eyes at the comment he knew was coming. They couldn't go anywhere without Tony obviously being recognized.

"Tony Stark?"

"Beautiful name isn't it?" Tony reached around for his sisters' hand yanking her forward, "Funny how my sister's name is just as beautiful isn't that right Emily? Stark curse really. Beautiful name, beautiful face."

Rhodey turned his head away from the scene before him in order to stifle his laugh. Emily was too busy apparently watching a group of guys, who were just as interested in watching her , to notice that her brother was talking to her.

She wavered slightly on her footing and turned to face Tony and the bouncer.

"Uh, yeah! Yeap that's right!"

"It's her beautiful birthday too!"

They've been doing this for years, back to when he and Tony were only sixteen. Tony's ability to talk people into things was ridiculous and Rhodey was glad he knew all of the billionaire's tricks.

The siblings collected themselves as one to put on their show for the bouncer. Emily's sixteenth birthday held similar traditions as his and Tony's. The three had already been inseparable for years but her turning sixteen marked, what Tony referred to as, 'the time to learn to be awesome.'

They've been a tricycle ever since.

_A drunk tricycle that's for sure._

Rhodey turned his attention back to his companions almost too late as he saw the bouncer had already let them through the door that Emily was currently hanging out of yelling for him.

"Rhodey! Let's go!"

A grin made its way onto his face, "yeah, yeah, I'm coming," as he made his way into the crowded building.

_Barely move, we've arrived  
>Lookin sexy, lookin fly<br>Baddest chick, chick inside  
>DJ, jam tonight<em>

"Alright comrades, where to begin?"

Tony rubbed his hands together as he planned their attack on the unsuspecting bar and patrons.

_Woah_

This bar had everything the three of them could possibly want. Hot girls and hot guys grinding on the dance floor drunk off a fully stocked bar and loud music. The bar wouldn't know what hit them after tonight.

_Spotted me a tender thang  
>There you are, come on baby<br>Don't you wanna dance with me  
>Can you handle, handle me<em>

A blink of the eye and he would have missed Emily downing her shot of tequila and taking off for the dance floor with some poor guys hand tightly gripped in hers.

He shook his head and looked to Tony who was scanning the room for 'entertainment'. The possibilities were endless.

_You gotta do much better if you gone dance with me tonight  
>You gotta work your jelly if you gone dance with me tonight<em>

"Anything good?"

They were both single men, they were best friends-wingmen- they were perfect for girls out for their 'girls night out'. It didn't matter where they were at, it always worked.

"Left corner, two blondes. One platinum, the other sunflower blonde."

_Read my lips carefully if you like what you see  
>Move, groove, prove you can hang with me<em>

His gaze made his way to the two girls mentioned to find them both staring back with smiles on their faces earning a small wink from the platinum blonde. Tony's attention to detail was unreal when it came to women.

Rhodey dug a quarter out of his pocket, "Call it", flipping the quarter up and catching it covering it with his palm.

_By the looks I got you shook up and scared of me  
>Hook up your seatbelt, it's time for takeoff<em>

"Heads for the platinum, and I mean that in any way you wish to take that."

Chuckling to himself at his friends' crudeness, he uncovered the coin to reveal George Washington's head.

Tony groaned as he downed his shot of whiskey

"I love you G.W."

Rhodey quickly swallowed the contents of his own glass before making their way to the two women. A thought spread through his mind as time seemed to slow around him. How long he and Tony had been doing this? What was the endgame? It almost seemed routine.

_I don't think you ready for this jelly_  
><em>I don't think you ready for this jelly<em>

He did a quick turn around looking for signs of Emily, finding her between two guys on the dance floor with a predator look in her eyes. Had that look always been there? Or did she learn that from the two of them?

_Runs in the family I guess._

He shook off the feeling of guilt and turned to the two women in front of him just as Tony was draping an arm around the platinum blonde he now was sitting beside.

"Ladies, name's Tony Stark, this here is my buddy Rhodey, and tonight just happens to be your lucky night."

He'd put off his self-loathing until after tomorrow morning.

_I don't think you ready for this _  
><em>Cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe<em>


	5. Got a Little Drunk Last Night

_Brought it all up, got it all out_  
><em>What is it worth, to both of us now<em>  
><em>It's off my chest, but never off my mind<em>

After getting Rhodey settled on the couch, Tony went downstairs to make sure he got everything belonging to his best friend. He made one more sweep of the place before heading towards the door.

_Oh shit, J.A.R.V.I.S. is still offline_

He turned his A.I. off earlier when his sister showed up with beer and pizza, saying she wasn't going to 'share him with terrorists in other countries'.

He went to his control panel and after a few keystrokes the lab seemed to come to life once more.

"Hey buddy, ya there?"

Tony sat down in the chair, seemingly exhausted from the day's events. First his sister shows up randomly as usual, and then Pepper's surprise turns into a disaster.

"_Yes, sir, all systems are back online._"

"Good," taking a deep breath, he pushed himself out of the chair, "on that note, I'm hittin' the sack. Don't wait up."

"_Goodnight Mr. Stark"_

Tony carried himself upstairs from the lab and noticed the last few bags Pepper hadn't carried upstairs yet. Grabbing them he made his way clumsily up the stairs where upon reaching the top he was greeted with the red head's voice.

"I could have got those Tony," as she took two of the bags that were causing the majority of his balancing issues, "you could've hurt yourself carrying them all up at once."

Scoffing at her, "What kind of boyfriend slash super hero would I be if I couldn't lift some luggage up some steps?"

Depositing them as soon as they reached his bedroom suite he turned his back to his bed only to collapse back onto it. He opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling while letting out a breath.

"Boy, what a day."

"You're telling me."

He raised his head up a bit to see what she was doing to find starting to unpack.

_Typical Pepper can't sit and relax._

"Pepper, come over here."

She looked up from her task and tilted her head in question.

"Why? I'm trying to-"

"You're trying to be an overachiever and unpack before you relax," his puts his head back down on the bed and closes his eyes, "just come over here and lay down. You can unpack tomorrow."

Tony hears her light chuckle and hears the rustling of her business suit she still wore as she stood up.

"You just want to get me in bed."

His eyes shoot up as he throws his hands in the air, "Well, Duh! We had a fight today Pepper! This is a prime opportunity for make-up sex."

"Wow."

He sits up completely to find Pepper shaking her head, although with a smile on her face lighting up her features.

He reaches his hand out towards her, and pulls her towards him when she's standing between his legs. His hands find her hips as he holds her in front of him, watching her as she takes her hair out of the pony tail and resting her hands on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry."

His apology must have caught her off guard as her eyes widened slightly before running her fingers through his hair. His eyes close as he relaxes instantly to her touch and he rests his forehead against her tone stomach.

"It's okay. I guess it's just a little hard to grasp that I've worked for you for so long and didn't know about her."

He let out a long sigh before letting out a breathless laugh, "She's pretty well hidden."

He felt Pepper's hands frame his face, tilting it up towards her, ghosting her fingertips over his closed eyelids causing him to open them to her concerned expression.

"Why?"

He let out another sigh and ran his hands up and down her sides, trying to think of where to start. How do you start a story about how your father, whose company your girlfriend now runs, had two different lives and he and his sister are the result.

"You know that Agent Coulson guy? Who came to talk to you after I was rescued?"

She nodded her head slowly, hands still on the back of his neck.

"And you know how he showed up with a group of guys at the reactor to help you out?"

"And how he had a handheld explosive device in his pocket that he used to open the door? Yeah, pretty hard to forget."

Her statement made him laugh. Only in this crazy life of his would that come out of his girlfriend's mouth.

"That's who Natal-Natasha works for too isn't it?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded. That Romanoff irritated the shit out of him, him and that pirate Fury. If he hadn't known Fury since he was a toddler he would have told him and his eye patch to fuck off.

"Yeah, they're with an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. –"

"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

He blinked up at her. Why is he even bothering to tell this story, he's 90% she's already figured it out.

"Yeah," he said slowly, waiting to see if she had more to add before he continued, "well my dad kind of started that."

She looked shocked for a second before regaining her composure.

_Nothing shocks this woman, I swear._

"So when she came along, he apparently made some kind of plan. I went to the company with Obi, Em went to S.H.I.E.L.D. with dad's bodyguard Nick."

She released her hold on his head, to gently plop down beside him on the king size bed. He stared at her out of concern and maybe fear at what she may have thought.

_Come on Pep say something_.

"Well," this is it he thought, "That wasn't complicated at all."

Great, totally figures, he shouldn't have even told her—wait a minute what?

He struggled to make words as he stared at her confused. Her giggle broke him out of his daze as he finally let out a sound.

"Huh?"

"Tony, honestly? Compared to your kidnapping, iron man, Obi, Hammer, and Vanko? A secret sister is a welcomed relief," she put her hand on his knee and leaned forward, "at least she isn't trying to kill you."

He still couldn't make words.

This woman in front of him made him speechless with every new thing they learned about each other.

_So, this is what I've been missing._

He shook his head and let out a laugh as he looked down at his hands.

"You're literally perfect aren't you?"

She laughed again as she swept some hair out of his eyes and smiled.

"I try."

He tilted his head in her direction to her still smiling face and leaned in to cover her lips with his own. 

He felt her hand reach for the back of his neck and the gentle kiss turned into something far more passionate. He wrapped his arm her waist and hoisted her up the bed to rest underneath him.

_I'm a lucky bastard._

_Two drinks in, hit that hurt,_  
><em>You feel bad, and I feel worse<em>  
><em>I swear it's the last time every time<em>  
><em>Don't know why<em>

He slept for all of maybe 3 hours before his restlessness seeped into his bones. Uncurling himself from around Pepper he found his discarded shirt from earlier and slipped out of the bedroom.

He made his way down the stairs and through the living room towards the lab when a light outside caught his attention. As he walked towards his ocean view porch, he zeroed in on the curled up figure on the bench.

He only knew one other person in this house who felt just as restless at night if the nightmares didn't get to them first.

"Emily."

She turned her head slowly towards the door, not surprised due to her training no doubt.

"Hey there tin man. Can't sleep?"

He shook his head as he swatted her legs off the bench to make room for himself quickly snatching some of the cover in her possession to spread over his legs ignoring her 'excuse you'.

"Nah, too much in my head. What about you?"

He turned his head towards her waiting for her reply, though something told him, he already knew. It was something that kept him up some nights as well.

"Did you tell Pepper?"

_Change of subject, alright._

He knew his sisters defense mechanisms. He didn't miss a beat with his response.

"Yeah, she pretty much already figured it out, and was surprisingly okay with it…considering everything else I've put her through the past two years."

He felt her shoulders shake with laughter as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Is that okay that I told her? Or is patchy the pirate going to get mad?"

She sat up and leaned forward putting her arms around her knees hugging them tightly with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Nah, he won't mind. It was way overdue for her to know anyway. He probably thinks she already knew."

He turned his head to look straight in front of him at the moon reflecting in the ocean in the distance.

"Thank you."

He noticed her head turn suddenly to her him trying to analyze his facial features to figure out what he meant.

"For what?"

"For letting me tell her. I mean I know she's just a girlfriend-"

"I think we both know she's not _just_ a girlfriend Tony."

That shut him up. He had no reply for that because she was right. Pepper was far more than just a girlfriend, and had been for a while, even before the expo.

"In any case, thanks. I know Fury's always had a strict policy with who knows about you."

"Ah, he'll get over it. Perks of being the favorite," she let loose a toothy smile that held just a tint of the smug attitude that ran in their family. "Speaking of our favorite bald spy," she whipped out her phone and after pressing a few buttons revealed a text message, turning the phone towards her brother, "I have to go back Saturday."

He nodded his head somberly. He understood but it still sucked. It was Thursday night- wait no Friday morning- now so she had one day left to spend.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Her mocking tone made him let out a cackle as he threw his arm over her shoulders, leaning back into the bench content with just watching the waves.

_Thought I could keep it all inside_  
><em>But I got a little drunk last night<em>


	6. This Place About to Blow

_Back door cracked, we don't need a key_  
><em>We get in for free, no V.I.P. sleaze,<em>  
><em>Drink that Kool-Aid follow my lead,<em>  
><em>Now you're one of us, you're coming with me<em>

_May, 2008_

_Rio de Janeiro, Brazil_

Hot and sticky are the two words that come to her mind, and not in the good kind. Emily leans back in her harness as she holds onto the rope in front of her face holding her against the building.

_How many floors is this thing anyway?_

She's been suspended on the same floor for about ten minutes waiting for her teammates and her A.D.H.D. is starting to kick in.

_Is it 32?_

She looks about 4 floors down at one of her teammates. He's got his hands behind his head, feet propped up on the glass in front of him, eyes closed.

_We are way too comfortable with this stuff_.

She shakes her head laughing at her own thoughts, when a voice below her booms.

"Come on Barton! What's the hold up?"

Emily looks up at the agent in question where he sits suspended about 10 floors above her. They stopped their descent when his rope got stuck. He's been trying to fix it ever since.

Their mission was simple. Get any and all documents about a chemical that was apparently leaked into some bottling plant near by recently. They should have been on the plane home by now.

"Don't tell me that you're too old for this? You aren't thirty yet, lets get a move on!"

Clint's response was a simple 'fuck you' as he looked to be making some headway with the mechanical issue.

She looked back down at her fellow agent, "He's totally going to kick your ass when he gets down here."

He shrugged off her comment with a laugh, "That means he'd actually have to get down here sweetheart."

These boys would be the death of her.

They've been on a team of their own for some time now, and were all trained in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. They each specialize in something different, but all together are a force to be reckoned with. Probably a reason Fury made their team.

A crackling in her ear piece made her wince as a deep voice came across.

"_Ward if you don't shut that mouth of yours, this 54 year old is going to stick his size 11 boot up your 25 year old ass."_

It was impossible for her to stifle her laugh as her Superior Officer/Legal Guardian effectively put the verbal smack down on Grant.

"_Nothing to say Agent Ward?"_

Grant let out a sigh, with a small "no sir," mumbled at the end as Barton flew past them both down the building laughing the whole way.

Shaking her head one more time Emily kicked off of the glass panel in front of her making her way down the building with Grant following above her.

They finally reached the level the information was supposed to be on. Grant placed two suction cups onto the glass in front of him, while she held his tools. Clint remained a floor above the two in order to keep watch, but kept a steady eye on the two agents below him.

"Watch out Grant, hate for Fury to put you in time out again."

A smile spread onto her lips as she looked up at Clint then back down to Grant's face to see his reaction. Without missing a beat, he reached over into the bag she held looking for a tool as his other hand raised towards Clint with a single finger salute.

Finally finding a small laser the length of his finger, she watched as he cut a circle in the glass big enough to fit through before handing the laser back over. He took hold of the suctions and pushed forward until the glass gave way and pushed inside the room.

The youngest agent tossed the bag of tools inside through the opening before slipping herself in after it into a large room filled with—

Her eyes went wide at the sight.

_You've got to be kidding me._

There was not just one file cabinet, but a whole room of them,that all looked the same, with no order to be immediately seen among them.

"So, do we blow it up? Or search through all these filing cabinets?"

Grants head peaked in after hearing her request and let out a low whistle.

"_How bad is it?"_

She took out her phone and brought up the camera on the device and snapped a few pictures, and sent it to the command center. She glanced up at Grant hanging in the window as they waited for a reply.

"Five bucks says he makes us search."

Emily smirked at the wager. The three of them were always making bets: who could take down the most men, who could make the loudest explosion, who could drive the fastest, who could guess what Fury would have them do next-

"_Blow it up."_

She didn't look at Grant as she heard his groan, having beaten him out of another five dollars. Walking over to one of the file cabinets she inspected it closely to determine if it was a damage resistant metal. Deciding that it was not, she took the bag off her shoulders and began to empty its contents. She quickly dispersed different charges all around the room, making sure that all file cabinets would be destroyed in the blast.

Emily took one last glance at the room before walking back over to Grant as he threw the glass panel to the floor. Her eyes widened momentarily as it shattered before realizing it didn't matter how much noise they made now. The whole floor was about to blow anyway.

_So much for secrecy._

Grant grabbed her hand as he hoisted her out onto the ledge for her to hook herself back up to her repelling gear.

"You got it?"

Clint was beside them now, making sure everything was fine, as always.

_Such a protective brother._

She flashed the detonator in front of him flashing him a smile, "Roger Doger, all set."

"Let's go."

As he lowered himself down the building, Emily and Grant glanced at each other and shared a look at the older agents' '_all business'_ tone. They were only months apart in age and soon after he arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. they developed a sibling like relationship. If you asked her how many brothers she had, she'd say four; ones just a little darker than the rest of them.

They quickly made their way to the bottom of the building, and made their way to the S.H.I.E.L.D. issue SUV hidden under a nearby underpass.

As Clint started the vehicle, Emily noticed the car hadn't moved and glanced his direction to find him looking at her expectantly.

"What?"

He let out a chuckle, "Aren't you going to push the button?"

Surprised she forgot the most important part of the plan, she laughed.

"Sorry, my brain is just so spacey today! Here…anyone for a countdown?"

Grant whipped out his phone, "Wait, wait, wait I got it, you'll love it."

Clint and Emily turned to look in the back seat at him waiting to see what he had as music started to come from his phone.

"Oh wow Grant, really? Who is this even?"

_Leave it to Clint to be a buzzkill._

Emily pressed a couple buttons on the SUV's dash transmitting the music from Grant's phone to the vehicles speakers as the girls voice came through followed by a beat.

_It's time to kill the lights and shut the DJ down_  
><em>This place's about to blow<em>  
><em>Tonight we're taking over, no one's getting out<em>

"I think it's a _perfect_ detonation song Grant."

"Why thank you Emily, I thought since you so_graciously_ put it on my phone that you might like it."

Emily watched Clint roll his eyes at them and put the car in drive, as she pushed the button just as the song hit its crescendo.

After driving a few minutes away from the blast passing firetrucks and ambulances, Clint let out a whistle.

"Pretty nice fireworks there Em, what did ya use?"

She sat up a little in her seat and placed one hand on her hip and the other laid flat on her chest as if she had received a generous compliment.

"Well, Mr. Barton, I took my C4 and-", why was her phone ringing?

Her confusion increased as her other brother who's not really her brother's face showed up on the screen.

_Rhodey? I thought he was in Afganistan for Tony's demo?_

After sending Grant a confused look as he leaned in from the back seat to investigate, she hit the answer button and put the phone up to her ear.

"Rhodey?"

"_Hey Em,-"_

"Hey! What's up how did the demo go?"

She didn't mean to cut him off. She just wanted to jump into a conversation so she could put her mind at ease.

"_Emily…"_

Her breath caught in her throat. Tears pricked her eyes but she swallowed them back as she noticed Clint pulling off the road to park it on the side and turning the music off in order to give her his full attention.

_No, no no no no no no no._

"What's going on James?"

She only used his first name under the worst circumstances. She didn't know she did it, it just kind of always happened that way.

She heard his voice choke almost in a reply, and she closed her eyes waiting for the ball to drop.

_"Tony's gone."_

_Tonight we're taking names 'cause we don't mess around__  
><em>_This place's about to blow._

_._


	7. Memories

AN: The first part of this is a dream sequence the character is having that flashes back to where the last chapter left off. I put dates in at the end where they wake up and it's back in the present hopefully that doesn't confuse anyone.

I know I said it would be a different p.o.v. in every chapter, but I needed this chapter to be from this p.o.v. so oh well the next one is the same too. Shit happens.

_**In this world you tried  
>not leaving me alone behind<br>**_

"_I'll be in Afghanistan next week if you need me"_

"_Why the heck are you going there," she adjusted the phone on her shoulder as she continued filling out her paperwork, "it's hot and full of nothing but sand, hardly anything for an alcoholic to be excited about."_

"_Hilarious. There's a weapons demo I have to do for the army – blame Rhodey."_

_She put her pen down and put her elbow on the desk as she looked out the window beside her. She perched her head on her hand and took a deep breath, "Well have fun with that…what about your birthday party? Are you going to cancel it?"_

_She heard a scoff, "Don't be crazy. I told Platypus he and I would both be back in time for festivities-no questions asked."_

_**There's no other way  
>I'll pray to the gods: let him stay<strong>_

_She shook her head and laughed. Typical Tony. Dealing weapons one day downing drinks the next._

"_Where are you headed next?"_

_She was too focused on the clouds to hear the question._

"_Sis?"_

_She blinked quickly, "Oh, I'm sorry; it's been a…long day. I think Fury's sending us to Rio for a quick pick up."_

_The mission was a simple one, nothing too special._

"_Well, alright, I gotta go. Be careful in Rio – the humidity's a bitch."_

_**The memories ease the pain inside  
>now I know why<strong>_

"_Are you ready?"_

_She nodded at Rhodey as they looked at their drop zone from the military choppers open door. She looked back at the team he led for his unit grateful she didn't have to do it alone. S.H.I.E.L.D. may be a secret to the public, but the government knew of them and Fury made it clear to army generals she was an asset._

_"It's like this, would you rather her put her specialty of tactical warfare to use with or without you? Because trust me when I say her way is a lot messier."_

_She strapped her rifle to the clips on her chest that her combat uniform provided and quickly adjusted the straps around her legs and shoulders from the parachute on her back. _

_They'd been out here for six months already. _

_In the sun and heat, sifting through sand._

_Looking for anything that looked like him._

_**Made me promise I'd try  
>to find my way back in this life<strong>_

"_Alright guys, let's do it!"_

_Rhodey fell out of the chopper as his unit followed suit through both sides of the helicopter. She was the last to approach the door and in order to keep steady she put both hands on the frame. _

_The sounds of the blades above her head keeping the helicopter in the air were almost deafening. She needed to get her mind focused; she wouldn't be helping anyone if she got emotional now. _

_She took a breath and fell allowing the air to carry her to join the others._

_**I hope there is a way  
>to give me a sign you're okay<strong>_

_A month later bullets flew past her as Rhodey pulled her by her pack down behind a rock, her back pressed flat up against it. She caught her breath as she gripped her AK-47 tightly. She glanced to the side to see a member of his team on the ground motionless._

_**Remind me again  
>it's worth it all<strong>_

_She shut her eyes tightly and rested the back of her head against the rock._

_**So I can go home**_

_Another month and she lay in her tent she shared with Rhodey. Though it was December, there was no cheer, and though the desert night brought the cold reminder of winter she felt no difference as she had felt cold deep down for months. _

_They'd lost two more men that day. She looked to the other side of the tent to find Rhodey on his back, arms crossed behind his head serving as a pillow, one knee bent as he stared blankly. _

_**All of my memories  
>keep you near<strong>__  
><em>

_A heavy silence sat between them that she wasn't sure had ever existed when they were within feet of each other._

_She was no fool though; she knew the reason for the silence. _

_**In silent moments  
>Imagine you'd be here<strong>_

_What was there to talk about when the glue holding them together wasn't there?_

_**All of my memories  
>keep you near<strong>_

_The ninth month brought more gunfire and explosions, though somehow she knew this was different; she could feel it. There was only six of the original ten members of their unit left, and they fought with everything they had, and when her bullets ran out she resorted to hand to hand combat. _

_Time slowed as they watched something fly above them as she threw a guard over her shoulder disarming him in the process. His pistol now in her hand, her gaze did not move from the sky as she fired two shots into the ground. _

"_Rhodey!"_

_She took off running. That rocket in the sky just looked too weird to her as parts of it flew off midair. Their intelligence made it clear that these terrorists didn't have the resources for that type of weaponry. _

_Rhodey must have been two steps ahead of her, as always, she realized when she saw him running towards the Humvees they had hidden behind rocks for protection. She could barely hear his orders to his unit over the sound of her heart beating in her ears. She stumbled in the sand but soon caught herself as she finally reached the vehicles._

_The engine roared when she shut her door as Rhodey barely waited for two of his unit to pile in the back seat. She looked behind her to the other Humvee and watched as they fired out of their windows at the remaining terrorists. _

_**The silent whispers, silent tears**_

She shot up in bed gasping for air. She put a shaky hand to her forehead to wipe off the cold sweat that had accumulated there. Chest heaving, she looked around her for something to she could ground herself to.

_I'm okay…I—I'm okay_

Nightmares came with the territory of what she did for a living, and although it may or may not be obvious, she knew in the back of her mind that she wasn't by any means the only agent suffering from them.

Still though, _this_ particular nightmare always left her on edge.

She took a deep breath of air through her nose and let it out her mouth, throwing the covers back and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She tilted her head to the side and put a hand on her neck trying to work the tension out of the muscle as she closed her eyes.

It wasn't that the nightmare held overly gruesome violence.

_I mean, a few really bad people did die. But—_

It was nothing she hadn't dealt with before. It was more along the lines of where the nightmare always ended before her subconscious ended the torture.

It was a constant reminder of what was at stake if she failed…

Slowly she opened her eyes to stare at the wall in front of her.

It had been almost two years since they found her brother after nine months of searching the deserts of the Middle East.

Sure, she boasts that she has four brothers; it was the only time she thought she lost her actual,_ biological, real _brother. She remembers being terrified of the thought of being the _only _Stark left.

In no way was she saying the others didn't mean as much to her as Tony. Rhodey, Clint, and Grant were her support system and together with Nick they were a family in every sense of the word.

At the rate she was going through bottles at the liquor store, she's not even sure she would have made it through his absence without them.

_It had a happy ending, why can't it be a happy dream?_

Determining that sleeping was no long an option, she bent over to pick up the hoodie lying by her bed before throwing it on and standing up, stretching her arms high above her as she did so. She walked to her door, and quietly opened it since she wasn't entirely sure who was awake right now; after all it was 6:30 in the morning.

Well that's not true; she knew for a fact Tony was definitely _not_ awake.

She poked her head out into the hallway and looked both ways. Deciding the coast was clear she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen, the cool marble floor felt soothing on her bare feet as she walked.

When she came into the living room she heard a strange gargling noise and froze. She slowly turned around only to be reminded of Rhodey passing out in the kitchen the night before resulting in them carrying him to the couch.

No way would he be waking up anytime soon either.

She made it to the kitchen where she set about finding something to eat.

"_Good morning, Ms. Stark"_

She smiled to herself at the greeting from the A.I.

_How can someone like Tony create something so polite?_

"Mornin' J.A.R.V.I.S., what's there to eat in here?"

She opened random cabinets around her to see what there was to offer, when a not so J.A.R.V.I.S. voice broke the silence.

"There's some Honey Nut Cheerios in the cabinet to your left, I think Tony ate all the yogurt flavored ones though."

Emily whipped around to find Pepper in the kitchen archway in a pale green fluffy robe.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I totally woke you up didn't I?"

Pepper waved off her suggestion as she made her way to the counter to pick up a cup of coffee J.A.R.V.I.S. had already made for the household.

She let out a light scoff, "Trust me you didn't wake me up," she paused as she's poured creamer into her cup before continuing, "A 165 lb. man snoring into my ear had that honor."

Emily let out a chuckle. She knew all about sleeping next to Tony; you'd have better luck getting a good night's sleep next to a Harley Davidson. When she was younger and he was actually home from school long enough for down time, she would sneak in his room if she had nightmares and get in beside him, only to have his snoring wake her up in the early morning.

_He wasn't too much of a fan about the tissues I'd stick up his nose either_.

"What's got you up so early? No offense but I just assumed any blood relative of Tony 's would have the same sleeping habits."

Sitting down at the table with an apple, Emily nodded her head in agreement before saying, "Trust me, I'm exactly like him when it comes to sleep," she took a bite and with a mouthful of apple continued, "Up all night, sleep all day."

She noticed Pepper wasn't all that phased by her lack of manners when she realized she was talking with her mouth full. How long has she been around Tony?

_Oh yeah. _

Emily swallowed quickly before adding, "I'm actually a little better when it comes to waking up though. I just had a-" she trailed off, "a rough night."

She leaned back as she sunk lower in her chair, feet propped up on the edge by her butt, bringing her knees to her chest as she brought her hand up for another bite of the apple.

"Nightmares?"

Pepper's question caused Emily to stop mid-bite.

It had never occurred to her that Pepper had been through the same ordeal, just not in the desert. No, she was here trying to keep the _family _company afloat with Obadiah Asshat (as dubbed by her) while she had no idea what could possibly be going on with her and Rhodey.

_Oh God- _

Emily couldn't even process how that would feel. Not knowing. Just sitting in Tony's empty house-

"It's okay, I have them too. Tony's are worse though; at least mine only come when I've had a really hard day."

She had no doubts about Tony's nightmares. Her brother and she had been plagued by nightmares for nearly 20 years. She may have only been eight years old, but her imagination took care of the rest.

Emily swallowed the lump in her throat before nodding, "Yeah. It's always the same one too; out in the desert, all hot and sticky from carrying all that crap, sometimes the sand on the beach reminds me and I feel gross all over again."

She noticed the red head glancing at her with suspicion.

"Why were you in the-", Peppers blue eyes widen almost to the point it reminds Emily of a cartoon character, "You mean, _you_ were there with Rhodey?"

_Wow_, who does this red head think she is? Of course she was out looking for her brother! Why would she even think—_Oh_ _yeah_…

_She just found out about you yesterday Emily, back up. _

She shook her head to rid herself of the internal scolding of her conscious before setting her apple down on the table in front of her where Pepper sat across from her. She had to think fast so Pepper wouldn't think she was offended.

"Yeah, and let me tell you something, December in the desert—not so festive."

Pepper must have realized how it sounded as she put her coffee on the table to join Emily's apple, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to insinuate…I-I didn't think you just..." she let out a frustrated sigh.

Tony would kill her if she let Pepper be in a depressed mood before he even woke up.

She let out a laugh that startled Pepper.

"You should have seen his face when we found him!"

She stopped to slap her leg recalling the memory. The sad thing was she wasn't faking the laugh at all. She remembers it being the first time she laughed in nine months.

"His eyes were all big and stuff, and his shirt was wrapped around his head, but where he did it himself there was like this _huge_ portion of his head not covered at all," she took in a breath of air, "and I guess this…giant, metal…thing that Rhodey and I saw in the middle of _all_ this fighting going on, apparently was him blowing out of the cave, and when he told us we couldn't help but laugh at him."

She was practically cackling now, but she didn't care. Pepper probably thought she was insane, but oh well, she was a Stark, everyone already assumed she was.

It apparently worked though as a hint of a smile appeared on Pepper's face before quietly mentioning the suit was actually downstairs.

Emily sat up with another laugh.

"I know," another breath of air, "I laughed at him all over again when he showed it to me!"

They were both laughing now, but it only lasted for a minute.

_Well, at least it kind of worked._

A heavy silence settled over them once more until she heard the other woman take a deep breath.

"I didn't mean to make it sound like you would've just sat by while he was…."

They were on equal turf now. She couldn't say it either. Couldn't say how he was…well…_not_ in the United States.

Pepper's body was turned to the side slightly as one of her freckled arms had come to lie on the table as her other arm was propped on the back of the chair with her elbow running her hand through her hair.

Emily reached out to put her hand over the one of the woman in front of her, "Pepper," she started as she patted her hand, "it's okay."

Pepper turned her gaze to their hands on the table.

"I know you would have been out there too if you could," she retracted her hand to point a finger at her waggling it in a reprimanding manner, "but you knew Tony well enough to know he would have wanted you to stay here."

That brought a smile onto the woman's face as she turned in her chair to completely face Emily again with both elbows now on the table in front of her clasping her hands together as she shook her head ; the grin turning into a smug one.

"The only thing different than normal was that he wasn't physically here for me to yell at," her statement lost its fire half way through, "that was the worst part. That he wasn't here to make me laugh, or impress me with how much he _actually _knew about what was going on in the Company, or-"

Emily raised her gaze from her apple and made eye contact with Pepper as she took in a deep breath before continuing.

"He wasn't here to make me smile."

She couldn't help but smirk at the comment.

It was no secret to Emily about Tony's constant flirting with his personal assistant. He talked about her non-stop—despite how many girls he _distracted_ himself with.

"He's been in love with you for a long time Pepper."

She watched Pepper's eyes snap to meet hers almost as if she didn't believe her.

"No, I—I _really_ doubt that, I was just a personal assistant he was grateful for having around. He was-"

"_Completely_ obsessed with you."

Tony might kill her later, but Emily was not going to let the only woman (_that wasn't her or their mother_) her brother has ever let see the real him continue thinking she was just one of his flings.

Pepper's mouth hung agape for a minute as if trying to find the words to say, before finally closing.

"But," she stuttered and then swallowed back a choke, "what about all those—all the other…women?"

Emily snorted at the thought, "Distractions."

Her simple answer to the question apparently was not what the red head was expecting.

Honestly? No wonder it'd taken them both so long to get together. They both were freaking blind to what was right in front of them. How could she _not _see that?

_Its official, they were made for each other._

Pepper was quiet for a while before gently lowering both hands to lay flat on the table as she leaned back in her chair.

"Well…guess you learn something new every day."

Emily snorted as she laughed out loud.

_Oh yeah, they're perfect for each other._

_**Darling you know I love you **_

_**Till the end of time**_


	8. Come With Me Now

_AN: _Shout out to nancyozz for being the only one to review (minus the guest who reviewed earlier - THANKS BTW)

I really want to know what you guys think so please comment!

I own nothing. Except Emily. But the songs and artists and the places and some of the words and the characters all are owned by their respective peoples.

_**Afraid to lose control  
>And caught up in this world<strong>_

_July, 2009_

_The Hub_

_**| A public memorial service is being held today for pop legend Michael Jackson-|**_

_Click_

_**| Looking pretty quiet out there with no hurricane activity making it a historical—|**_

_Click_

_**| A total solar eclipse is expected to take place the 22**__**nd**__** folks, so mark your cal—|**_

She raised the remote control once more to change the channel.

"Emily if you don't find a channel in the next twenty seconds I'm putting an arrow straight through the screen."

She tilted her head back on the arm rest of the couch she was currently sprawled out over.

"No one's making you watch it bird brain so deal."

"I was here first."

Oh yeah, she forgot. She had walked into the common area for a much needed catnap after a training session with Director Grumpy Pirate Patch since he made her do twice the workout they usually do. She turned her head back towards the screen as her arm hung limp from the couch still holding the remote.

_Damn it. _

"Don't worry killer, you'll get him next time." Emily threw a glare towards the archway as Grant stood with a bowl in his hands and a fork stabbing the salad that was inside. She let out a sigh and clicked the button again hoping it would land on something she could stand watching.

_**|We are coming to you live from the from the kickoff of the Stark Expo where Tony Stark has just walked off stage|**_

She sat up so quickly her vision turned hazy as the blood rushed through her body from lying down so long. She turned the volume up on the screen in front of her despite her older teammate on the other couch who was trying his luck with a nap as well.

_**|Don't worry if you couldn't make it down here tonight because this expo goes on all year long-|**_

"Huh, did you know that—"

The sound the remote made against Grant's head was satisfying as she continued to try to hear what the reporter was saying about her brother.

_**|And I'm going to be here checking out all the attractions and the pavilions and the inventions from all around the world so make sure—|**_

She sunk back into the couch in awe.

"He actually went through with it."

She thought Tony had been joking when he said he was going to bring back their dads expo. It had only been a couple months since the whole Obi thing and she was surprised to see how perfectly put together the expo looked.

"Yeah, don't worry my face is fine and everything. Thanks for asking"

She raised an eyebrow at Grant as he sat next to her on the couch handing her back the remote she threw at his head only minutes before.

_Not his smartest idea ever, but hey._

"I was trying to hear the TV; it was either turn the volume higher or shut you up," she shrugged as she added, "So I took the fun way."

She laughed at the eye roll she received as he stuffed some of his salad into his mouth.

"Aw, what's wrong? Super spy can't handle a little remote control?" She felt her grin turn wicked as she thought of the final straw that would annoy Grant. "Maybe you should work on your dodge technique, you _have_ been looking kind of slow—"

Her quip was cut off as he tackled her from the side dropping his bowl of salad in the process. It hit the floor with a clatter as she found herself pinned underneath Grant who sat astride her putting her in a hold she couldn't break.

Despite his hold, it did nothing to hinder her torment. She loved getting under Grants skin and even though they were 26 years old they often found themselves behaving like children rolling around on the floor usually until Clint broke them apart, which always led to them joining forces to take him down.

They're wrestling match resulted in the two falling off the couch, giving her a temporary lead as he fought to flip them over.

"What in the _hell_ is going on in here?"

She and Grant both froze to gaze towards the entry way to find Nick Fury's eyebrows furled in their direction.

"She threw the remote at Grant and told him he needed to work on his technique."

She threw a glare Clint's direction annoyed that he had chosen then of all times to interject.

"Uh huh, and who's winning this wrestling match?"

Emily opened her mouth ready to respond when she felt a whoosh of air as her orientation was now altered to be staring at the ceiling as a very smug looking Grant was looking down at her.

"That would be Grant sir."

_Traitor_.

She heard his deep chuckle from across the room.

"Well, I guess that means Emily's the one who needs to work on her training."

She closed her eyes tightly as she dreaded the words she knew were coming. She let her body fall limp in defeat, content to just lay on the ground until her punishment came.

_Ugh, not again, please! I've already trained all morning!_

"Mats in five Miss Priss, if you think your highness can manage that."

She continued laying on the floor arms spread wide as Grant lifted himself off of her to sit back on the couch, his elbows on his knees as he looked down at her in victory.

He extended his hand to her, "It's okay doll face I know you're sorry, here, let me help you up."

She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm as she swatted his hand away from her face.

"Vaffanculo"

She didn't need to look to see Clint's smile.

_**I've wasted time, I've wasted breath  
>I think I've thought myself to death<strong>_**  
><strong> 

_August 2009_

_Secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility outside of Seattle_

"Miss," she took in a deep breath and exhaled, "A-08."

"Miss"

This was their fifth round of Battleship, and she could think of a million things she'd rather be doing. They were stuck in the facility while Fury was in a meeting with the council.

She had no idea where Clint was, but she knew her and Grant were bored out of their minds.

"B-02"

"Hit"

She watched him reach for a red peg to put in the spot indicating where her ship was. They'd played it so many times today that his face no longer held that smug expression he normally gets when he starts winning.

"C-06"

He opened his mouth ready to respond when the doors to the lounge room flew open with a balding—_angry_ looking balding man stomping through them. They watched in silence as he stalked over to the screen on the wall and picked up the remote to turn it on. She turned to Grant for a quick questioning glance before seeing Clint leaning in the doorway crossing his arms.

_Oh Great, what have we done now?_

She turned back to the screen as it came to life and he entered in a channel number. Fuzzy lines filled the screen until clearing to a picture of a news caster with a smaller screen in the corner showing a race track with the words _'Grand Prix de Monaco Historique'_ scrolling at the bottom.

She stood up leaving Grant sitting by their playing board and walked closer to the screen to hear what they were saying as he turned the volume up.

_**|"What's the use of having and owning a race car….if you don't drive it?|**_

She heard a small crowd cheering on the screen as she stared forward.

Blue uniform.

Blue car.

Driver with sunglasses

**Stark** written on the uniform-

_Wait. Stark?_

Her eyes widened and she could feel a headache coming on.

_**I was born without this fear  
>Now only this seems clear<strong>_

"Oh no."

Hands now on his hips pushing his jacket back, Nick turned to her, "Oh yes."

"Well don't look at _me_, I didn't even know he was _in _Monaco!" The look on his face deflated her argument and forced her to come up with a different approach, "What do I—What do you want me to do? I-I don't"

"Call him."

She turned to completely face the man with a look of disbelief.

"I can't just _call_ him," she waved her hand towards the screen in a gesture, "he's driving a freaking race car; how do you expect me—"She stopped suddenly as he leaned closer to her.

Has that vein in his forehead always been there? This was a whole new level of Nick Fury's….fury…

_For a guy with an eye patch he sure does give scary looks._

"Call. Him."

She nodded her head slowly, "Yeah, I-I'll call him."

She rooted her phone out of her pocket bringing her brothers' name up on the screen. She pressed the call button and lifted the phone to her ear to the sound of ringing.

She sent a nervous glance up at Nick as she waited and then back towards the TV as an explosion lit up the screen. She dropped her phone as she focused on the screen with wide eyes and mouth slightly open.

The scene played out in front of them showing Tony's car cut into pieces by a rather _large_ man with what looked like whips attached to his hands.

The next thing she knew she saw Happy onto the track and—was that Tony's assistant in the back seat?

Within seconds, Tony's Ironman suit was out and engulfed him in armor the news station cut out to a blank screen. She pursed her lips together and crossed her arms as she turned to Nick who still had his hands on his hips and body angled towards her but had his head tilted to the side as he stared at the TV with an eyebrow arched up.

_**I need to move, I need to fight  
>I need to lose myself tonight<strong>_

_So much for her boring day.  
><em> 

_**I think with my heart and I move with my head  
>I open my mouth and it's something I've read<strong>_

It was another three hours before she finally got ahold of her brother.

"_Anthony Edward Stark!_"

"_Victoria Emily Stark!_"

Ignoring his reply she continued her tirade, "What in the _fucking_ _hell_ did you think you were doing?" She stopped pacing around her room at the Hub. The four of them got their own wing of the dorm facilities to themselves and even though Clint and Grant had to share a room at first, they now all had separate rooms with bathrooms attached and their own common area and kitchen.

The perks at being the Directors '_surrogate_' family were endless.

She had a hand on her forehead as she rubbed her temples in frustration.

"What kind of C.E.O. fires -"  
>"Ex-C.E.O."<br>"-his driver so he can jump in and— wait what?"

"I'm not C.E.O. anymore."

_Am I being Punked?_

"What do you _mean_ you're not C.E.O. anymore? If you aren't C.E.O. and I'm not C.E.O. who is running Stark Industries?"

"Pepper."

Okay well, that was actually better than what she thought it was going to be. She didn't have to know the girl to know she had been pretty much running the joint for years, especially after these last few months.

"Any particular reason why you decided to let Pepper be C.E.O.?"

She heard him let out a breath of air before he responded.

"It's hard to explain right now. I'll call you after I talk to this guy."

"After you talk to what guy?"

She could hear people in the background and her brother responding in French.

"Tony," she drew his name out slowly preparing herself for whatever he was up to now.

"I'm talking to the guy who cut my race car into pieces. I'm a little salty about it."

No. That was not a good idea.

She knew his race car joke was a cover up for the more pressing issue. She saw the technology that guy had, and what's more, what it could do. If her brother wanted to talk to him face to face, it had to mean Tony was actually serious.

"Alright, Em, I'll call you later."

"Tony wait—"

She didn't hear the click, but she knew he had hung up on her. She let out a frustrated growl and threw her phone on the couch.

She's totally buying him a straightjacket.

_**I stood at this door before, I'm told  
>But a part of me knows that I'm growing too old<br>**_

_May 2010_

It was a month after the race incident that a mission took her to Rome for six months following activity rumors about the _Maggia_.

She had talked to Tony on and off, but their conversations seemed less animated than usual, and sometimes she did all of the talking. It was his birthday and she decided she'd stop by after the party crowd and Pepper left to give him his present—as well as help him with his hangover the next day.

She sat in her car and waited outside of the long road that led to his house, when a car pulled up beside her.

_**Confused what I thought with something I felt  
>Confuse what I feel with something that's real<strong>_

"You know, I think I saw this in a scary movie once."

She let out a smile as she turned her head towards the car, knowing who it was before looking.

"Well, well, well. Did Uncle Sam decide to let you have fun for a change?"

She watched him laugh as he took one hand off the steering wheel to lean his arm on the arm rest between him and the passenger seat so he could lean in to look at her.

"Something like that," he turned his head towards the gates and nodded, "it was more along the lines of an order at this point for me to go."

"Ah, so you're babysitting?"

He shook his hand and let out a sigh.

"You waiting 'til everyone's gone?"

She nodded, "yeah, figured I'd come see him. He's been acting weird lately."

"Well alright, I'll see you when you get up there."

She watched Rhodey's car drive through the gate and down the road towards the party.

She waited about ten minutes before she saw a cluster of cars zooming out of the driveway. She looked at her watch and noted the time was only 11:30.

_No Stark party ends at 11:30._

She swung her car door open and stepped out of it, keeping a hand on the frame of the car to ground her as she saw what appeared to be one of her brothers' suits flying away from the house a little clumsily.

She brought her phone out and sent a quick text to Rhodey asking what happened.

The response was quick and after reading it she quickly got back into her car and raced down the driveway to the house. One of the cars that left must have been Pepper's because the girl was nowhere to be immediately seen. The house—

_Oh my God! The house!_

The house looked as if a bomb had went off inside and the main floor's roof was caved in.

She heard rubble move a little ways away from her and watched another one of her brothers suits fly away, although this one flew with a reckless sway.

She brought Rhodey's info up on her phone and hit the call button.

"Yo."

"Rhodey! You said you only had a fight!"

"Right, your point?"

She couldn't believe her ears. Was he seriously having this attitude with her right now?

"My _point_ is that the house looks like a bomb went off! I mean, I saw not one but _two_ suits fly away," she took a steadying breath; "and I know one of them is obviously Tony, but who do you think got the other one?"

S.H.I.E.L.D. taught every agent _not_ to freak out, that they would see the weird and unusual almost every day. But, honestly? None of the other agents had Tony Stark as a brother, and she wouldn't really call this freaking out; it was more along the lines of the _worry_ of what her brother would do next.

She realized in the middle of her thoughts that Rhodey had yet to respond to her question.

"Rhodey?"

"Yes?"

A thought went through her mind and sent a streak of white hot pain through her temple. She settled back on the heel of her foot and popped her hip out as she relaxed her stance.

She settled her hand on her hip and looked at the ground as she kicked a rock away from her foot, "Rhodey?" With a deep breath she decided to voice her suspicion, "you're in the other suit, aren't you?"

She heard him release a deep breath, but he still didn't answer.

"Okay, Rhodey. I don't know what's going on with him or what's going on with your all's bromance- whatever, okay? Just make sure you know what you're doing."

"I do."

She rolled her eyes and clicked the end button.

The world must be completely turned upside down or something, because there is no way in hell that she's actually acting more mature than the two of them.

_**I tried to sell my soul last night  
>Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite<strong>_

She looked down at her phone once more and brought up another face on her phone to make a phone call. 

She had her arms crossed on the table as she rested her head on them. She turned her head to look out the window to her right and watched her boss in his usual stance of his hands on his hips, and his direction pointing up towards the sky.

_**Far away  
>I heard him say<br>(Come with me now)**_

_I am so beyond over this._

She buried her head face first back into her arms until she heard a bell ringing from the door to the doughnut shop opening. She rose up when she heard someone take a seat in the seat in front of her and looked to her left to see her brother. His hair was all ruffled and still had the suit on, but had his shades present and accounted for. He's hung over.

_Good, that's what he gets for making me do all this shit._

He lifted his sunglasses as he looked at her and she watched him size her up as he figured out what was going on. Lowering them back down onto his nose she watched him let his head roll back and turn slightly to look at Fury and leaned most of his wait on one leg, "I told you I didn't want to join your super-secret boy band."

She rolled her eyes and scooted over a little as he moved to sit down next to her. She put her head in the hand she had propped up by her elbow on the table and glared at him "Don't be an ass."

She watched Fury chuckle and grab his plastic cup of coffee, "No, nah, see I remember, you do everything by yourself – how's that working out for ya?" She watched him take a sip and laughed to herself.

_**Don't delay  
>I heard him say<br>(Come with me now)**_

There's no wonder people in school stayed away from her when she was younger. She didn't stand a chance being raised around all these hot headed men whose main language was sarcasm.

She watched the exchange between the two, content to be a mediator if needed, until she heard footsteps and realized she almost forgot about their third party member.

"I've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold for too much longer."

Despite the fact that Emily herself had forgotten about the third party member, she looked to Fury to see him smiling at her brother when she remembered that Tony knew her as Natalie, not the Black Widow.

"Huh," she watched as Tony's brain tried to process the newly found information and figured he'd be more annoyed at the fact he had no idea about her real identity, "You're…fired."

Emily laughed at the look on his face, "I don't think that's up to you anymore Tone."

She watched as Natasha sat down beside Fury before his onslaught of lecturing sarcastic wit was unleashed on her brother.

A tiny satisfied feeling of revenge settled through her as he was finally getting a taste of what she has been dealing with since they were kids.

"You're Ironman and he just…_took it?_"

_**Far away  
>I heard him say<br>(Come with me now)**_

She turned to face her brother and immediately almost felt bad as she noticed Tony not responding but keeping his head facing something in the distance. She put a hand on his arm as he finally turned back to them when their comments ceased.

"What do you want from me?"

"What do we want from you? Oh, nuh uh. What do _you _want from me?"

She leaned her head on the suits shoulder when Tony rested his head in his hand, when Nick pointed out how he had become a problem. She hadn't even noticed Natasha get up until she saw what Natasha was holding. She quickly detached herself from her brother and made sure none of her was touching him just in time for him to feel the shock of the lithium-dioxide entering his system immediately reducing the intensity of the blue veins on his neck.

How could he not have told her? Was he just going to die and let her be confused and leave her alone? After _everything_ in Afganistan, he was just going to _die_ and wither away?

"I've been looking for suitable replacements for Palladium, I've tried every combination, every permentation of every known element," her arm on his arm seemed to make him stop mid-sentence and she hoped the question in her eyes let him know what she was feeling.

_**Don't delay  
>I heard him say<br>(Come with me now)**_

"_Why_ didn't you tell me Tony?"

She saw the sorrow in his eyes when he turned to face her and with a quiet voice he whispered, "I didn't want you to have to save me again…I'm the big brother, that's my job."

She shook her head at him as she dropped the hand she had on his arm to look out the window for a few seconds before turning back to Nick as he cut Tony's speech short.

"I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."

"Where is he?"

She let out a sigh as she weaved in and out of traffic as she made her way to Stark Industries headquarters.

_**Whoa, come with me now  
>I'm gonna take you down<strong>_

"Coulson, I've got it. Let me just-"

"He broke protocol."

She rolled her eyes. I mean honestly how by the book does this guy have to be? He was trained by Nick just like she was how were they this different?

"_Phil_, I'll handle this. I know how to deal with him." She stopped to see if he had a response before she continued, "He's just going to keep being difficult the more you push. Let me just talk to him and see what he's up to. Okay?"

"He has one hour to get back to the house."

She ended the call as she slammed on the gas pedal barely missing the merchant selling strawberries on the side of the road.

_Tony Stark you are going to be the death of me._

_**Whoa, come with me now  
>I'm gonna show you how<br>**_

She pulled up to the building to find Tony's sports car empty and parked perpendicular to three of the parking spaces.

Parking beside him she walked to his car she looked towards the doors of the building. She couldn't go inside and wrangle him back in. The board of directors would notice her immediately and not only ask a million questions about how she is, but point out _who_ she is in front of other employees.

An idea dawned on her as she walked around to the back of the car. She jumped up to sit on the trunk and swung her legs back and forth underneath her like a child would.

If she couldn't go in there, she would wait outside for him.

**I've wasted time, I've wasted breath  
>I think I've thought myself to death<strong>

_He has to come back eventually…right?_

This _was_ Tony Stark she was talking about. 

She didn't have to wait long as she saw someone attempting to push a large table out of the two small doors leading into the office building. She arched an eyebrow at the scene as she watched the person swat at the hands of the guards as he took a dolly over to help wheel the table towards her.

"What the hell is that?"

Her question seemed to catch him off guard as he looked up at her and gazed out of his sunglasses.

"It's dads, now get the fuck off my car and help me with this thing."

She jumped down off the car, but instead of helping, she walking around him to stare watch him try and put the object in his car.

"And just _where_ do you think you're going with it?"

His answer came out in struggled breaths as he attempted to lift the table into the passenger seat.

"Back home, duh – seriously are you going to just stand there?"

Emily put her hands behind her back and walked around to the driver's side of the car.

"Oh, you mean the house you weren't supposed to leave under orders of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

She watched him give up momentarily as he let the table sit on the top of the seats in the car.

"They were serious about that?"

"Yes Tony," she shook her head at his annoying behavior, "they were actually serious about it. Agent Coulson's was on his way here when I intercepted you—you're welcome by the way—but he will still probably show up at the house later."

He had started trying to fit the table in the car again as she spoke and satisfied with its current position shut the passenger door.

"Well, I'll meet him there I guess. Call him and tell him I want lunch."

He looked up at her with his notorious grin and she couldn't help but let a smile appear on her face followed with a laugh.

She looked back up at the building in front of her with their name on the side as he strapped the table in with chords.

"Did you go see Pepper?"

He let go of the chords after he was satisfied, and nodded as he let out a breathy 'yeah'. "Her and Natashalie are making good friends and have Happy to drive them to shopping malls and junk."

She stared at her brother with her mouth drawn up to one side and shrugged.

"You're hopeless…Anyway…I was on my way to see you to tell you bye when Coulson called."

"Bye? Where you going now?"

She started to make her way back to her car before answering, "New York." Upon reaching her car she opened the door and leaned on it as she turned back to her brother. "Fury said he's got something special for me."

"Mmm, well, you have fun with that. Call me later, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah." She started to get in her car as she paused, "Hey Tony?"

She didn't know he heard her until his head popped out from behind the table.

"Please behave yourself?"

_**I need to move, I need to fight  
>I need to lose myself tonight<strong>_

There was that grin again.

"Don't I always?"

_**Whoa, come with me now**_

AN: Okay, that was ridiculously long page wise but it's only like 4000 some words. It's more of a filler chapter too like I said most of this story would be since I have to kinda add Emily in places so when the stories in the series that are in the present time come out it's not all like, Tony went through two movies, the avengers and another movie without his sister showing up, but now she's here and it's okay?

Because yeah, no, that's not realistic… a marvel movie world kind of realistic….

Fun Fact: The things the tv stations were saying in the beginning are actually real things from the year 2009. Like no hurricanes in June and July, Michael Jackson dying (I need a tissue), and the solar eclipse….yeah…I put a LOT of thought into this crap…you should see my notes O_o

Let me know what ya think!


	9. Wrapped in Red

AN: This will probably be a super short one as it's "technically" the end to the story and just a wrap up. Yes this story is probably boring to some but it's providing the framework for my other stories which go through all the Marvel Cinematic Universe all the way to the end of season 1 and I'm hoping that by the time I get to that season 2 will be out and I can keep going from there!

_2010_

Tony woke up with a jolt and found his limbs bound by red sheets wrapped tightly around him. He didn't think the nightmare had been bad enough to make him toss and turn in his sleep, but then again there are some dreams you can't remember.

_Probably a good thing._

He started the task of untangling his feet first and then sat up after he freed his arms. He sat still as he let his shoulders roll forward and let his head roll back to rest. He brought his hands up to his face and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slowly brought them over his cheeks to his mouth.

His gaze wandered to the other side of the bed and let one hand drop to his lap as the other rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Ja-", the catch in his voice made him clear his throat before continuing, "Jarvis."

"_Good Morning sir, it's 7am, he weather is 72 degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waste to shore tide lines-"_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he waved his hand in dismissal to get to the question at hand, "Where's Pepper?"

"_Your sister and Miss Potts are in the kitchen area sir enjoying breakfast."_

"Oh…that's nice." Wait a minute. No. That was not nice. They were together; alone in the same room? "Are they…fighting?"

"_Their conversation seems to be that of a calm nature sir."_

He let out a sigh of relief. Maybe he was over reacting. He just didn't want the questions he _knew_ Pepper still had in the back of her mind to come out and Emily not know if she could answer them. Or if he wanted her to answer them…especially those of their former…party days.

"_Perhaps it's because you are not present sir."_

He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah whatever, what about Rhodes?"

"_Colonel Rhodes is still asleep on the couch sir. His heart rate indicates he will not be waking up for some time."_

He swung his legs over the bed and stood up with a stretch. He rubbed his fingers around the edges of the RT; whether out of habit or pain he didn't know anymore. He made his way to the bathroom grabbing a shirt from the floor on the way. He came to a stop in front of the mirror in the bathroom connected to his bedroom and brought the shirt over his arms.

His reflection caught his attention in the window before he brought the shirt the remainder of the way down his chest.

_Two years._

It had been two years since all this craziness happened. Oddly enough, he can't remember ever really feeling that bothered about the technology in his chest; other than the first time it happened and it had a car battery attached to it. That was kind of scary.

_Like a movie where they steal your kidney and leave you in a bath tub._

He brought his shirt down the rest of the way and reached down to turn the water on. He threw the water on his face and patted his face dry. After he decided against a shave he walked out to his room once again to the lounge chair in the corner and grabbed his sweatpants.

He didn't stop walking as he threw them on, resulting in him almost falling one or two times. The water on his face woke him up some, but not entirely.

He made his way down the stairs as the voices echoing from the kitchen became more distinguishable. His feet hit the cool marble floor as he shuffled closer to the arch way of the kitchen.

He brought his hands up to his face once more to rub his eyes in another attempt to wake up and stopped in the middle of the living room. He looked at his best friend still on the couch.

_How did he get more drunk than me?_

He was actually grateful he wasn't that drunk the night before. He was in fact planning on being that drunk, however he knew he would not have been able to handle that whole Pepper situation drunk and that would have just been a complete disaster.

He continued his path into the kitchen and found two sets of eyes looking at him.

He blinked twice as the silence continued.

"Uhhh...Morning?"

The two girls giggled and he stopped mid step towards the coffee pot.

_Giggles? What in the-_

"Morning Tony, how are you this morning."

He ignored the question as he poured his coffee and when turned around as he took a sip.

"Amazing actually. I got the two most beautiful women in my kitchen" he let a small smirk shine through on his face, "I think I'm doing well."

He watched his sister roll his eyes at the comment and stand up. "On that note, "she threw her apple core in the trash can as she walked out towards the living room, "I'm going to have a shower and get my stuff together."

_Oh yeah._

His smirk turned into a grimace as he remembered that it was the last day of his sisters stay, having been cut short due to duties for '_the greater good_'.

When his sister disappeared out of view he looked over to the red head before he walked over and sat in the chair Emily had previously occupied.

"Hey there good lookin', what's cookin'?"

He watched her lift her gaze up and the small smile on her face brightened his entire day.

"I'm good what about you?"

He put his cup down onto the table before leaning back in the chair to drape an arm over the back of it and cross one leg over the other.

He left one hand on the table and began tapping his fingers, "Like I said, can't complain."

He watched her nod her head slowly as she brought her cup up to her lips once more to take a drink. He knew neither of them functioned very well without their coffee and he hated his sister's ability to just pop awake with no aid.

He let the silence between them continue on when a groan from the living room made them both turn their heads to the arch way. They stared for a moment waiting for the source of the groan to make itself known, but after a minute passed by they turned back to look at each other and shrug.

"So…" He wasn't really sure how to start, but he had to try, "are you okay? With, you know… everything?"

"You mean the secret sister who is part of a secret agency that's saved your life and apparently mine a couple times?"

He smiled and nodded. Leave it to Pepper to just throw it all out there. No sugar needed.

"Yeah, that stuff."

She let out a small chuckle much to his relief and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

He nodded his head in thought.

_Good. No more secrets._

He'd do it for her. No more secrets.

_Well…the suits and stuff…._

Okay, he'd try. He'd _really_ try.

_**You're here where you should be  
>Snow is falling as the carolers sing<strong>_

"Rhodes!"

The couple jumped in surprise at the sudden shout that came from the living room.

_**It just wasn't the same  
>Alone on Christmas day<strong>_

"Wake up Colonel Drunk Ass."

Tony put his cup on the table and stood up in order to see what was causing all the commotion. He heard Pepper's chair scrape across the floor as he leaned on the wall of the archway leading to the living room. He felt Pepper's arms wrap around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder.

_**Presents, what a beautiful sight  
>Don't mean a thing if you ain't holding me tight<strong>_

He let out a laugh before he let his head turn to rest his cheek on her forehead.

"Rhodey's getting a wakeup call."

He felt the red head's laugh bubble from her chest as they watched the scene play out before them.

_**You're all that I need  
>Underneath the tree<strong>_

Emily had ahold of one of Rhodey's arms pulling his body half way off the couch as he scrambled to find something to hold on to in a sleep daze.

"Come on, let go! Just let me sleep."  
>Emily rolled her eyes and let his arm drop to the floor.<p>

"Fine whatever, I was going to offer to take you home on my way out, but have fun driving your hung over ass home."

Rhodey's head snapped up at that as he tried to push himself up off the couch.

"No, no – I'm comin'."

Emily, who had her bag slung over her shoulder and keys in her other hand, laughed and put a hand on Rhodey's back as he stumbled past her in the direction of the door.

Tony watched Rhodey's eyes zero in on him then as he stopped dead in his tracks.

"How the hell did you not get drunk last night?" His gaze then looked back to Emily before adding, "How did _you_ not get drunk last night?"

He turned back to face Tony and threw his arms up in the air before letting them come back to hit his sides.

"How am I the _only one_ to get drunk last night?"

Tony laughed as he slipped out of Pepper's embrace and walked over to slap a hand on Rhodey's back to help him make his way to the front door where Emily was already standing.

"Gee Platypus; you're just too much of a party animal I guess. You really should watch how much you drink. A lot of people frown on that kind of behavior," he started to wave his hand in circles in an explaining gesture, "something about manners and public decency, I don't know."

Rhodey shrugged his hand off his back and lowered his voice to an aggravated whisper, "Man, fuck you."

Tony laughed again as he watched his best friend make his way to Emily's car and fall inside when she opened the passenger door. She threw her bag into the back seat and turned to face her brother.

"Welp, guess I gotta go."

He nodded his head as he saw her wince slightly.

"I'm sorry my visit got cut short."

He waved his hand at her as he shook his head.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he pointed his thumb in the direction of the door back to Pepper, "I would've kicked you out anyway now that my lady's here."

She smiled at him as she leaned in for a hug that he gladly enveloped her in.

"Be careful out there okay? Don't let baldy yell at ya too much."

He felt the rumble in her chest from her laugh before leaning back to hold her shoulders at arm's length.

"I won't. You be careful too okay? I don't want my next assignment cleaning up some mess _you _caused.

She started walking around her car to the driver's seat as Tony gasped in a dramatic fashion, almost ruining it due to the smile on his face. This was a tradition of theirs it seemed whenever they would say goodbye after seeing one another.

"Me? Causing a mess! Why, I'm offended you would insinuate such a thing."

He watched her shake her head as she plopped down in the driver's seat and shut the door. Her car engine roared to life and she soon was driving down his driveway towards the main road and he raised his hand up in the air to wave as he turned to go back inside.

When he got to the door he found Pepper standing there leaning on the frame still clad in her robe.

_**Tonight  
>I'm gonna hold you close<strong>_

"So, that was fun?"

_**Make sure that you know  
>I was lost before you<strong>_

He took her small hands in his as he shook his head at her sarcasm.

"Yeah, but at least you got to see I'm not the only weird one."

_**Christmas was cold and grey**_

She smiled up at him as she leaned in closer.

He tugged on her hands to get her closer and met her lips halfway.

_**Another holiday alone to celebrate**_

This certainly was a turn of events. His girlfriend now knew his sister, which meant she could drop by more often. He was pretty sure said girlfriend wouldn't mind and he was even more ecstatic upon realizing this would be their first Christmas 'together'.

_**But then one day everything changed**_

They broke apart after a few seconds and he rested his forehead on hers and brought their hands up between their chests.

_**You're all I need**_

"What do you say about making Christmas memories?"

_**Underneath the tree**_

He knows she saw his eyebrows waggle at the suggestion, and he waited for the reprimanding he knew would follow.

_**I found what I was looking for**_

He watched her lean back away from him as she tugged him inside by his hands.

_**A love that's meant for me**_

"I saw we start upstairs in the bedroom…maybe work our way to the shower, and then see what happens, maybe decorate the tree you have in a box downstairs."

_**A heart that's mine completely**_

He stopped moving when she dropped his hands and made her way to the stairs. She put a hand on the railing and looked back to him when she realized he wasn't moving.

"Tony?"

_**Knocked me right off my feet**_

He was still trying to process what she said and was about to ask her if she was serious when a small sexy smile appeared on her lips.

_**And this year I will fall**_

_Well, what the lady wants, the lady gets._

_**With no worries at all**_

He quickly jogged over to where she was standing and put his hand over top of the one she had holding the railing. She remained still on a step above him when he stopped on a step below hers and pressed his lips to hers quickly.

"What was that for?"

_**'Cause you are near **_

Her being on the step above him gave her a height advantage that he took advantage of as he slipped his hand through the opening at her waist. He saw her intake of breath and smiled to himself.

"You aren't allowed to spend holidays _anywhere _else from now on."

_**And everything's clear**_

She regained her composure slightly when Tony began massaging the outside of her hip underneath the robe. Bringing her free hand up to run her fingers across his jaw feeling the stubble, she let out a small laugh.

"Is that a promise?"

_**You're all I need**_

God he loved this woman. She had the ability to completely take him by surprise and turn the tables on him.

Her laugh was cut off as he slipped the hand massaging her hip to the small of her back as the hand over hers on the railing came up to the tie on her robe. He pulled her closer to him when the tie came undone and he rested his chin on her chest just above her breasts as he smiled up at her.

"I'll have Jarvis slip it in to the contract for C.E.O.'s."

_**Underneath the tree**_

_**You're here where you should be  
>Snow is falling as the carolers sing<br>It just wasn't the same  
>Alone on Christmas day<br>Presents, what a beautiful sight  
>Don't mean a thing if you ain't holding me tight<br>You're all that I need  
>Underneath the tree<strong>_

_**Tonight**_


	10. We Live in Cities

AN: This is like a mid-credit scene that Marvel is so notorious for.

* * *

><p><em>June 3, 2010<br>Triskelion  
>Washington, DC<em>

She waited outside the building patiently for the S.H.I.E.L.D. caravan to pull to a stop. She stood a little straighter as her Director got out of the SUV and made his way over to her.

She nodded her head in greeting when he got to her, "Director."

He returned her gesture "Hill," and started to walk towards the entrance way. She pointed to the three SUVS in a gesture to the agents to take the vehicles around to the hanger before turning around to follow.

He waited for her at the door before holding it open to let her go through first. She stopped as she waited for until they were side by side as they made their way to the elevators.

"How did your meeting go?"

She watched him scoff as he handed her files.

"He wasn't excited about Romanoff's report, but I think he'll change his tune. We need him as a consultant. As long as we can put up with his damn attitude."

She stopped for a second at the elevators in the corridor before she realized he had kept walking.

"Sir?" He stopped briefly to turn to face her, "Are we not—"

She had expected them to go up to his office and to debrief about the meeting.

"There are some things I have to take care of first."

It took her a few seconds to catch back up to him as they continued their walk down the corridor.

"The initiative – will it still be able to work?"

She followed him as he made a left turn through a set of doors that led to the S.H.I.E.L.D. training facility.

"Still a thing. We just need the right players."

The training room was large and had padded mats all around in different spots. The walls were lined with fake weapons, a few punching bags dangling from hooks, and a rock wall in the middle. The door led them to the gallery that over looked the training room which was two floors below. The room itself was an open room so that agents could watch other agents train from a different perspective, or new recruits can be shown how to do things.

As they made their way down the hall Maria could hear grunts and what sounded like punches landing on skin.

The wall on their right turned into a grey side railing that lined the side of the training room giving them the view from above. She came to a stop behind Fury as he leaned forward and put his arms on the railing to support his weight.

She turned her head to look over the railing to find two agents sparring.

A loud whistle came from beside her that sounded as if it was a master calling his dog to his side. The two agents at the bottom froze quickly and began searching for the source of the noise.

Agents Barton and Ward made eye contact with her immediately as she nodded her head in greeting. The two of them along with Agent Stark were what she'd come to realize as his 'dream team'. Why he had a thing for teams? Who knows, but she knows he only sent the three of them together on rare occasions.

"The two of you suit up," Fury's loud voice echoed on the stale white walls around them, "Got some new assignments."

She watched Barton walk closer to the wall below them so they wouldn't have to shout in order with Ward not far behind having stopped to retrieve his water bottle.

She watched Fury lean farther over the railing to point at Clint, "Barton, you're in New Mexico with Coulson. 0-8-4. He's already down there so get movin'."

She watched Clint nod his head slowly as he turned around to retrieve his belongings left by the mat. He gave Grant a playful shove on the shoulder as he passed him.

"Ward," his finger was now pointed at the younger agent, "Garrett wants you for something he's doing in in Prague." Ward started to walk away with a nod before Fury whistled again, "Grant"; she turned her head towards the director as she stood a few steps behind him.

"You know what to do."

_That's not ominous or anything._

She arched an eyebrow as she watched the Director turn back to her before he started towards the way they came.

"Do I even want to know?"

Her question was met with silence as they began walking further down the corridor that led to the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle storage hanger.

"Hill, do me a favor and arrange for Senator Stern to be at the awards ceremony at the Capitol this afternoon."

She nodded her head in agreement as they entered the hanger.

"There a reason why you can't do it sir? Or is this the job that Deputy Director's do?"

They had found their way to stand in front of a SUV and Fury had the front door open as he turned to her with a grin on his face.

"I have an appointment in New York Deputy, can't be making arrangements while I'm driving now can I?"

New York? Why was he going to New York? She had paper work on her desk this morning indicating Agent Stark was already in New York.

"Sir, I thought Agent Stark was in New York?"

She watched him set his pistol in the passenger's seat before turning to her to put his hands on his hips, pushing his trench coat behind him.

His gaze was off to the side watching other agents move around as he responded, "Yeah," he turned his gaze back to her, "I'm meeting her up there."

_That's odd..._

Director Fury was very hands on sure, but she couldn't help but wonder what was in New York that was so _interesting_ to him. Her paper work made the mission sound extremely mundane and she realized she never wondered why he sent Agent Stark to do such a relaxed mission.

"May I ask what's so special in New York sir? Or are you going to throw level rank at me?"

As Deputy Director she was now level 9 giving her access to much of the information in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database and mission briefs, but the Director would always be at the top on the scale with level 10 and much to her annoyance, he would frequently throw the _friendly _reminder in if she asked a question…Even if that question was what the date was.

He plopped down into the driver's seat with a bounce and gave her a smile that made her all the more confused.

"Oh nothing really," He shut the door and she waited as he rolled down the tinted window, "just a dead guy."

He put the vehicle in drive and pulled the car out of the parking spot and towards the hanger doors as she heard him call from the window, "Hold down the fort Hill!"

Maria let out a scoff, as she turned around to go back towards the corridor, files in hand.

_Sure, whatever. Can't he ever tell me something without it being a riddle?_

She rolled her eyes and made the trek to the elevators to go up to her office.

The arrival of the elevator was announced with a light ding and the doors swung open to reveal an empty car. She stepped inside and pressed the button for her floor and leaned back against the glass panels as the door closed.

She looked down at the files in her hand noticing the top one had the words '_Confidential'_ written on them, but it was different somehow. The file looked older, more worn than the other manila folders in her hand.

"Wonder what this is?"

_**Dancin' around the lies we tell**_

_**Dancin' around big eyes as well**_

She was alone; she was allowed to talk to herself. She still had 20 more floors to go until her floor and what the heck she was level 9.

_**Even the comatose they don't dance and tell**_

She opened the side of the file and gazed inside. Her eyes went wide immediately at the picture she saw with a name attached to it.

_**We live in cities you'll never see on screen**_

_Huh…for once he wasn't kidding._

_**Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things**_

The ding of the elevator brought her attention to the doors opening and she pushed off the glass to step out of the elevator.

_**Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams**_

She continued to stare at the file, too shocked to move, before she let out a small laugh to herself.

_**And you know,**_

"Coulson's going to be so jealous."

_**we're on each other's team**_

* * *

><p>AN: That's it for this story!<p>

I know a lot of people thought this was pretty boring, and I have to agree I've been bouncing in my seat trying to get through writing the story because it's just the background that was super important for the understanding of the other stories. I put a lot of history into the characters background and added to what we already knew. I even tried to think of a way I could post the other stories in the series on her and update them all at the same time and I realized it would confuse EVERYONE. So I'm sorry!

The next story should be out either later tonight or tomorrow!

Thank you so much for reading, commenting, and reviewing!


End file.
